Walibi Belgium

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I'd be umm-ing and err-ing about whether to make a thread for Walibi Belgium, but their new coaster is intriguing me more and more, so figured I may as well...

Pulsar, opening in early June, is a new Mack Power Splash coaster. Promo video...

Essentially, the ride features 3 launches (eventually reaching a speed of about 62mph) and one massive splashdown (the promo video shows a couple, but there is only one). It sounds like such a weird, unnecessary and silly attraction, but at the same time, I think it could be quite fun!

To help improve throughputs, there will be 2 boats / cars. One is on the track, the other in the station, which is separated by a turntable. During the queue, there are 2 'pre show' areas to help tell the story of the ride, which revolves around some weird, mysterious object falling from the sky and controlling the water...or something.

Anyways, some photos...

(photo about a month old)

More recent. Above photos from Club Walibi Belgium

Turntable / station.

Boat! (From looopings.nl)

And some concept art, from pretparken.be...

As I say, despite my head saying this will be a bit naff, I think it's quite a novel idea and could actually be quite fun, even if it is just to look at. And, at the very least, it's nice to see the park making a near £7million investment in a coaster, especially since it has troubles with planning permission, locals and the like...

Oh, and the music is being done my IMAScore, so it'll be fab just for that.

It's a nice enough park in fairness, but nothing that special. Haven't visited Walibi Holland, so can't really compare the two (though with Goliath and now Lost Gravity, WH does look like the more favourable park coaster-wise!).

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If it were to have a splash on the first decent the ride would slow down a lot and would require a lot of power to get the speed back up for the boat to reach the top. So the water level only rises for a splash to occur on the last decent.

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It's got the equivalent of a canal system from what I can see. The rides flat is held in a controlled trough, and after the second descent the troughs gates open to allow the water to flow in. How the water is then lowered again, I have no idea, but I can imagine there is some kind of pump system to remove it.

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It's got the equivalent of a canal system from what I can see. The rides flat is held in a controlled trough, and after the second descent the troughs gates open to allow the water to flow in. How the water is then lowered again, I have no idea, but I can imagine there is some kind of pump system to remove it.

In terms of throughput your looking at 600+

The through just has loads of pumps and the like to remove the water, yeah. It takes about 6 seconds to fill (so leaving plenty of time between the final launch and the reaching of the splash) and 50 seconds to empty (which is convenient timing for how long it will take to get the new car out). Apparently, the water level can also be adjusting depending on weather conditions and the like too, which is nice.

Also, the theoretical throughput for this is apparently 950pph. Whether it'll actually reach that is anyone's guess at the moment, but if they can reach somewhere near that, then that'd be pretty darn good.

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It appears as though the splash zone is a platform just off the main path which is nice.

Also, a video of the water basin filling up if anyone is interested:

Worth mentioning that this isn't officially opened until June 4th (I don't think the queue and pre shows are finished yet), but apparently there are random times it is currently open as a soft opening.

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Walibi Belgium's management / owners have also confirmed that they're going to be continuing investment into the park and adding more new attractions within the next couple of years (keep in mind this was the park's first *new* attraction in about 13 years!), and that they'll be going for 'new' / recording breaking rides. Along with Walibi Holland rumoured to be getting a major new ride in 2019, and a new ride next year, and the much forgotten Walibi Rhone-Alpes getting some love, it's seemingly an exciting time for the Walibi group.

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Walibi Belgium announced yesterday that their ferris wheel will be closing at the end of season. The ride and surrounding area will be developed for a new ride, which will probably open in 2018.

As mentioned previously, the park had several issues in the past with locals / planning permission. But it seems that there is a light at the end of a very long tunnel for them, and I'm interested to see what they go for...